


The Adventure

by AlphaPockets



Series: Misadventures of the Mighty Nein [1]
Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: All ships are future, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Developing Friendships, Dorm Life - Freeform, F/F, F/M, Freshman Year, Friendship, Gen, M/M, Molly & Fjord BROTP, Other, Racism, implied racism, more tags to come
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-05
Updated: 2018-12-07
Packaged: 2019-07-25 11:57:29
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 17,429
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16197065
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AlphaPockets/pseuds/AlphaPockets
Summary: College can be a nerve-wrecking experience for people leaving their hometown for the first time. In the sweet Georgian heat, Molly and Fjord meet as roommates and embark on the adventure of college together. Life in the dorms is very different for the pair, as is living with someone so different from themselves. Yet, as the year goes by, neither boy wants to find a new best friend.The prequel toHere's to Usfocusing on Molly and Fjord friendship freshman and sophomore year until the start of their junior year.





	1. When Worlds Collide

As the highway signs flew by, Molly really began to question this whole going to school in the South thing. See, he had thought he’d known heat. It would get brutal some days in the summer back home. The sticky, humid air would get trapped in the towering tenement houses and the rain offered no relief. Instead, the clouds were more like a death wish for anyone looking for an escape from the sun. the clouds were only a promise of more humidity. But he was from a land known for heat waves being a term dedicated to weather over 90 degrees for three days in a row. He watched in disgust as the temperature from outside climb on his brother’s dash display.

He had grown up and sent his whole life in the Northeast. A Boston boy to anyone who was concerned, but the truth was he lived just outside of Boston proper in a neighborhood called Jamaica Plains. His brothers both went to Boston University, and Molly had applied. But the chance to move somewhere else and experience it for a few years was too good to pass up. Much to his mother and father’s dismay, he kissed the acceptance letters to Emerson, BU, and UMass Amherst goodbye for the sweet southern air of Georgia.

By sweet southern air, Molly meant the smell of stagnant salt water and despair. That was all he smelled when they pulled over to fill up the tank. It had been a two-day trip with everything being lugged in his brother’s jeep. Bo was the one bringing him down, which was not the original plan. The original plan was his dad and Gus bringing him down. Then his dad got sick and Gus got a promotion. Molly had to pick between Mona and his mother or Bo. And that was how he got into this situation. Not that he hated Bo. He didn’t hate anyone in his family.

The Tealeaf family was a traditional Irish family. By that, it meant they were loud, compulsive, volatile, passionate, fiercely loyal, and filled with trouble makers. Molly knew for a fact his grandmother had said she goes to church mostly to ask forgiveness for being the reason so many Hell raisers walked the Earth. It was the same woman who had pulled Molly’s father to her level by his ear while sneering, “Hey listen, you little bastard,” in front of the family. They were all close. Even the cousins. So, a trip with his brother was not painful. It was the fact that they had two long days of driving and nothing but the open road and boredom to get them through. And there was only so many times Molly could hear his brother butcher songs before he wondered how hard it would be to take over and throw him out.

While healthy, an athlete Molly was not. He was all long limbs and lithe muscles. Graceful and appealing, yes, but not about to win any wrestling matches. He had bright gray eyes and a naturally sandy brown to dark blond color to his hair naturally. At the moment, it was buzzed almost to the scalp in an attempt to remove all proof of his rebellious “I dye my hair black” phase he went through the later half of his senior year. It had looked terrible and his girlfriend had convinced him to shave it off. Then she left him because she was going to school in Maine. If anything, it made him look younger than he already did. His face was still round with a button nose and full lips. He had a very boyish charm to his chubby cheeks and long dimples when he was smiling. But at the moment, he was wearing a Strawberry Shortcake shirt to counterbalance the whole white guy with a buzz cut look.

His older brother had the same soft features he did, as did their sisters. The oldest was the only one to get their father’s longer features and pointed chin. Gus was the spitting image of their father in every way, which led to a lot of arguments. Molly had been the odd ball of the group, the proverbial black sheep of the family. With anyone else, it may have been an issue. But with the Tealeafs? They looked at his desired style and career path with a small sigh and their blessings.

He had been the smart one. The kid in every extra-curricular activity at some point. He had been captain of the debate team and took part in three different Mock UN sessions. But mostly, he was the theater kid. He was a tenor soloist in the school choir, the lead actor in the last three shows of his high school career, and he even had a short stint with a terrible garage band. When he told his family, he wanted to study Theater, they feared it was for acting. It had been for all of three days, but now he was on his way to learn the finer things in theatrical life—the backstage stuff. And when he said he wanted to go to school half a country away, they understood he was trying to spread his wings and get out from his brothers’ shadows.

Crossing over the Georgia line from South Carolina, he now felt the fear and panic setting in. Molly prided himself in being a situational chameleon. He knew how to blend in and make the most of things. But down here? Even from the little bit he noticed while driving down and stopping to eat, the boy knew the South was a whole new ballgame. And he was not sure he knew the rules. He didn’t even know if he wanted to play by them yet. Back home, he had the comfort of friends he grew up with all over the block and his family. He was no longer sharing a room with his brothers, but with a stranger he did not even know the name of yet. He’d have to do this on his own and hope he could make it up fast enough.

“Molly, if you don’t stop overthinking everything, I’m feeding you to the crocodiles,” Bo groaned as he looked over his little brother’s face.

“Alligators, you dumbass. We don’t have native crocodiles in the States,” Molly replied to sidestep the comment.

“Don’t have constrictors either, but the Glades have plenty of Boas roaming around,” Bo challenged as he merged from the highway into a crowded street. It was both very similar and very different from home. The trees were lining the walkways with houses and storefronts dotting the roads. Strip malls and gas stations on the street corners. But instead of tall houses and renovated Victorians, the streets were filled with entrances to actual apartment complexes. The further they drove, the denser the woods got. And after a few turns, Bo grumbled.

“Jesus, kid. You going to school, or trying to sell me to the gypsies?”

“I’d get nothing for you. I’d have to pay them,” Molly retorted as he looked around at the road.

It was pretty country, even with heavy vines and mossy grass clinging to the trees like a death grip. Everything was lush in contrast to the gray-green of the Spanish Moss. The sun was bright in the nearly cloudless sky. It seemed clearer than it did back home. Even outside of the oppressive skyscraper landscape of downtown Boston, his neighborhood was still cluttered with trees and old apartment buildings. Here, it looked more like heading up north to Redding, where the trees overtook the city again. On either side of the street, now that they turned once again, seemed filled with tree lines. Either his brother was lost, or this was the campus in hiding. Molly’s eyes looked around nervously.

And then, the first building appeared. It was one of the classroom buildings and made of old brick. Nothing fancy like the universities back home, but it was enough to hit the 18-year-old in the gut with the reality of it all. He was a college student. That was a place he may have classes in. The next was an off-white building with red brick on the edges. Then another white brick building. Two more red bricked buildings to the left and a brown brick building in the back. Molly swallowed and looked at Bo, who was just shaking his head in amusement.

“Relax, the buildings won’t eat you,” he snipped as he turned again then sharply to the parking lot of a four-story building that was long and had a one-story section the size of a few rooms sticking from the front and two sets of partially closed off stairwells along the far ends.

Outside were a gaggle of students milling around with their parents, siblings, or rented help in tow. A table was set up in front of the entrance with a welcome banner and what looked like people helping guide the residents to their rooms. Bo swung the Jeep into the nearest open spot under a tree and three the car in park. Molly’s leg was bouncing with nerves and his hand shook. He would not say he was scared or nervous. He was doing okay. He was just not comfortable walking into situations blindly. It was very different from being nervous.

“I swear to God, Molls, I am going to throw you out of the car and leave you here,” Bo groaned as he opened his own door and got out.

Molly sneered and climbed out himself. He stretched and felt his lower back pop uncomfortably. Around him were three other cars, two with bumper stickers from the school’s sports teams and one looked like it had seen better days in a junk yard. Maybe he would fit in a little better than he thought if most his friends had cars like these. He pulled up his shorts that sagged even with his belt tightened and walked over to the welcome wagon. As he got closer, Molly noticed a girl with short red hair and a dusting of freckles smiling and talking with people. The other was a long-faced guy who looked more inconvenienced by being there than anything. His scraggly beard was pulled at, so it looked more like chunked tendrils than a clump. The boy put his hands in his pockets and waited behind a very confused boy who had apparently gone to the wrong room twice.

“You next, kid,” the guy rasped. He sounded like he had smoked a pack a day for his whole life time and then some.

“Uh, yeah…” Molly looked at the name tag, “Clarence. Tealeaf?”

“Tea…leaf… Tealeaf…” the man repeated and looked over his list. “Ah. Mollymauk. You’re in 2-2-1. This is your room key. You get one. Don’t break it.”

Molly looked at the key card in Clarence’s long fingers and blinked. The guy was unsettling, and he really hoped—

“I will be you R.A. so if you need anything,” he trailed off and gestured emphatically with his hand for Molly to take the card.

He did and backed away slowly. He caught the eye of the redhead, who smiled brightly and waved. Her name tag read, “Kara” with a smiley face on it. If he need anything, he was going to her first. The boy turned and saw Bo headed over with two of his bags in hand. When they were a few feet apart, his brother heaved them at Molly.

“Take those up, I’ll get the others,” Bo called.

“Yeah, 221. I’ll leave the door propped open.”

Bo waved over his shoulder and Molly picked the two bags and headed into the entry way. It was not pretty building. The wall walls were textures and painted a strange off-white blend that looked grayer or beige from time than the ivory it probably once was. The floor in the entry way was a black tile with white flecks to make it look marble and a large black-on-gray mat sat by the doors. The few rooms this entry held looked like a small kitchenette area with some microwaves, coffee makers, and vending machines for everything from candy and soda to ice cream to the left. The other room was a common room with seven or eight old, leather couches, three over-stuffed chairs, a ping pong table, a foosball table, and a TV to the right. Across the way looked like the entrance to the first floor. Before the kitchenette was an alcove that, upon investigation, held the stairwell to the upstairs. He climbed, only pausing once on a landing to let two girls go down with their mother. On the second floor, he made it three rooms before realizing the room was in the other direction. Turning around and walking five more rooms, he noticed his door was open. And that his roommate was inside listening to what sounded like light country or southern rock.

Molly stepped in and saw his roommate had taken over the first bed with two duffle bags and underneath was a suitcase. Then, Molly noticed his roommate stand up straight. Molly was not a short guy by any means, but this kid had a good few inches on him. Molly pegged the guy for an athlete or a jock right away, too. Not just his loose shirt and gym shorts, but his shoulders were wider and more built than most kids fresh out of high school Molly had seen in Boston. Even the back of his arms looked muscular, which was just obnoxious. He had a rich, brown skin color and black hair buzzed similar to his own. Molly leaned against the doorframe and dropped his bags heavily enough to catch the kid’s attention.  
“I take it the other bed is mine,” Molly purred with his brows arched suggestively.

The kid turned, and Molly felt the air get punched from his lungs. He had narrow, golden eyes with softer features than even Molly had. A small smirk spread across the other boy’s full lips, showing the hint of obnoxiously perfect teeth. So, he was living in a Teeny Bopper magazine spread, now? The kid put one hand in the pocket of his gray shorts and the other rubbed the back of his neck.

“Well, the bed’s too small to share,” his voice was deep with a Texan accent. Molly was in love. “So, sadly, yeah.”

The slow smirk on the kid’s face grew to a full smile after a moment, and he extended his hand for a shake. Molly took it firmly after kicking off the wall. A smile plastered on his own face. He liked this guy.

“Fjord,” the guy said.

“Molly.”

 

Fjord had been terrified of school, yes. But he was also excited to leave. He had been on the road by himself for two days. His aunt and uncle couldn’t take the time off to drive with him. They also were not impressed that he was so far away now. Growing up, none of his older cousins had made it to college. Two had applied, but then life got in the way. It was too expensive, and they had no way of really affording the time away from making income to make it worth the time. He had resigned himself to that same path until he had gotten a full-ride scholarship for his swimming. He got some partial scholarships here and there, but the full-ride was why he picked the school. It was a promise of something more than just living in the same cramped house he always had or moving out to room share with other people until he got married.

His aunt and uncle had no real way to properly afford taking him on when his mother died, but there was no one else to take him. His grandparents lived in their house, so one took over the caretaker role of him and his four cousins living in the house while his grandfather, two aunts and one uncle went to work. It was a crowded house to say the least, but it was home. No one ever went without a place to stay. But it also made him wonder if this meant he would have that life forever. Not that he minded so much. He just wanted to be on his own for once. Make his own life.

He started swimming as something to do. A way to get out of the house. And he was good at it. Even built for it with long arms and legs. It was a chance to get away from his cousins who picked on him and their friends. He was different and always had been. Most of his family was purely Mexican or mixed with another Latin or Hispanic background. From what little he knew of his father, Fjord knew he was half-black. His cousins had a colorful list of names to remind him of this. Swimming was something that gave him time away from it all. A physical activity that exhausted him enough to drown out how it hurt. Something he could feel good about because he won. Not that many of his family went to the meets. His aunt did here and there. His grandmother was the most common face in the crowd. But for the most part, it was a bunch of empty bleachers. He made it to states three times in his high school career, his last two trips winning him first and second in all of his events. That was when he was contacted by this school in Georgia about being on their team. Housing paid for. Meal plan paid for. School and books paid for. And a grant. For four years, he could be out in the world and see what it had to offer.

He accepted before asking his aunt and uncle, which had started a fight. The question if he thought what they had was not good enough for him. A crashing wave of guilt. Enough to make his grade slip a bit. Fjord lost his perfect A average with one B-. It was the end of the world for him, regardless how stupid his cousins thought it was. The family was more focused on how Fjord seemed to not appreciate what they had given him. All he wanted to show them was what he could do with the life they offered. It was a sore topic, and his departure from the house lacked any tears or hugs. Just lukewarm well-wishes and a promise to tell them when he arrived.

It was a long drive. He had seem a lot of country he never thought he’d visit. A drive that took him through Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Georgia after skirting the panhandle of Florida. He stayed in Baton Rouge and Montgomery. Pulled off a few times to check out the cities. He enjoyed the ability to do what he wanted for the first time. His poor, old truck somehow managed to survive the whole trip. Half way to the school, Fjord had pulled over at a diner and really questioned what he was doing. He was worried about his future. He knew he was smart enough for school but being a college athlete was not easy. He had a required GPA he needed to keep up. Dropping below it meant he risked losing his scholarship. He could not get hurt, or he would lose his scholarship. Act out and get in trouble? Same thing. There was a lot riding on his ability to stay in-line with the rules. But there was so much about himself he had yet to learn.

Avoiding people made it easy to behave. The looks and comments kept him from reaching out to certain crowds. He could smile and talk with anyone, but he had learned early on who not to go around with because “perception is reality.” It was easy to be guilty by association for him. So, he was simply not associated.

But that was the point of college. Yes, to further his education, but to grow. To meet people and have some fun. He wanted that. That was why he accepted the scholarship. That was why he packed his life up into his truck and began the 15-hour drive. Now, six hours away, he was not so sure.

It was the reminder that popped up on his phone saying his first team meeting was in two days that had gotten him moving again. He turned up the music in the car and drowned out the insecurities.

When he pulled into the university campus, it felt like a whole world opened up. Even with the overgrown trees leaning over the streets, Fjord never felt so in the open. Everything was different from home. It even smelled different. There was a dampness to the air, like the threat of rain clinging to the promise of summer warmth. Students and parents were everywhere for freshmen move-in. A pang of sadness hit as he watched people have help moving in, but he sighed and threw the car in park, not wanting to dwell on it. He was going to be fine. He had the swim team, he hoped.

The welcome table was run by a girl name Kara, who was helping a thin blond with shaggy hair and pointed features. They had a register to their voice that made it hard for Fjord to tell if this was a girl or a boy talking. And the unisex name did not help any. The two were talking as if they were friends since birth, though he had a feeling it was just both of their personalities. The redhead, Kara, seemed to notice Fjord standing there awkwardly because she smiled and waved him forward. Fjord nodded to the blond next to him, who gave him a once over and looked behind them.

“Last name?”

“Palomares,” Fjord supplied after a cough.

“Fee-yord?” She sounded so earnest, he couldn’t find it in him to correct her.

She handed him a room key and told him his room was 221. He turned and found the blond staring up at him with a curious look on their face. Fjord looked around and then back to them.

“You by yourself, man,” they asked lightly.

“Uh, yeah. Family couldn’t make it,” Fjord admitted with a shrug.

“Let me help you with your stuff,” they nodded in the direction of the parking lot before walking off. Fjord gave a stutter-step to catch up.

“It’s no problem, really,” he said, feeling embarrassed. “Don’t have much to carry up, anyway.”

“Nah, dude, it’s fine. My parents dumped me off a few hours ago. They live a bit away, so it’s not like I’m doing much.”

“But you were talking with your friend over there, I didn’t mean to interrupt.”

The laugh caught Fjord off guard, but he felt a smirk pull on his own lips. Oh. They were not friends.

“I think she was too nice to get that’s not what I was going for,” the blond remarked with a hair flip. “I’m Bryce, by the way.”

“Fjord.”

“Like the car, not the water passage?” There was a playful smirk on their lips. “And you drive a Toyota? That’s just an insult to yourself.”

“Better cars,” Fjord answered with a shrug.

Bryce was somewhere between pretty and handsome with features that were effeminate and masculine. From a long, thin mouth to their piercing eyes with light lashes. They had a face of freckles and tanned skin from obvious time in the sun. Even the tips of their hair seemed sun bleached against the darker blond up by the roots. They looked like a standard surfer from what Fjord had seen. They hopped up onto the rear wheel and pulled one of the bags out as Fjord reached in and heaved the suitcase out. They both lifted the last bag, but Fjord refused to dump two on his helper.

“Where you from then. Southern boy, but not exactly backwater,” they asked brightly.

“Texas, actually. Outside of Houston”

“Oh, sweet. I’m from California.”

“Why are you here?”

Bryce shrugged and the threw bag onto their shoulder.

“My parents have a summer house out here. I love the south, so my parents said I could go out here and use the house for breaks as long as I don’t throw parties.” There was a pause and the two looked at each other with slow smirks growing over their faces.

“Well, I’m sure you will do your absolute best to make your parents proud.”

Bryce cackled and headed up the stairs first. They got stuck behind a boy with deeply tanned skin and a head of brown curls talking to what Fjord could only assume was a future football player. On the next landing, Bryce snaked by, muttering “Slow idiots,” leaving Fjord behind them. One had a light drawl to his voice when he called out, “Careful, cher, that bag is bigger than you.” Fjord cleared his throat, making the big guy turn. He had a square jaw and brown eyes that looked him over. The three stopped in the stairwell long enough for Bryce’s blond hair to return over their shoulders. The first guy leaned against the wall with his tongue teasing his teeth.

“You friends with Bryce, then,” he asked carefully, as if he was sizing Fjord up.

“And if I am?”

If an ice breaker could make a sound, he was sure the air shattered in relief. Smirks spread across both guys faces as the big guy slammed his mitt against Fjord’s shoulder. The smaller guy laughed and nodded his head up the stairs while Bryce scolded them for messing with their new buddy.

“You know each other long then? Never seen your face before. I’d remember it,” the smaller guy asked over his shoulder as they began moving again.

“Uh, just met, actually,” Fjord mumbled.

The big guy took the suitcase without preamble and started up the stairs as well.

“Us, too. I’m Darrow, this is Gunther, my roommate.” The big guy nodded at his name while Darrow continued. “They were annoyed that we were taking too long at the check in table and walked between us and grabbed their key from the creepy guy.”

“My ma had to pee,” Bryce argued. “You were taking too long with Kara. She’s not interested.”

“How do you know,” Darrow asked.

“Was talking to her when I met Fjord Tough over here,” they explained as they made it to the second floor and started toward his room.

“Never date the R.A.” Gunther rumbled as he dropped the bag at the door.

Darrow rolled his eyes and leaned against the wall as Fjord unlocked the door. Inside was the kitchenette and the bathroom. Across the way was the doorway to the beds. He figured he would take the first bed, as he would be up early for practiced. And some of that must have been said out loud, because Darrow’s head perked up from the nails he was picking at.

“Play a sport, then, Texas?”

“Swim,” Fjord muttered, not sure how he felt about his mouth moving on its own.

“Oh, no shit. Me too. We should go out after you get set up,” Darrow insisted brightly. Fjord looked at the brunette, then to Gunther, who shrugged. Bryce slipped in with the bag and dumped it on the first bed.

“I like this idea,” they called from the other room. “I have my car. Fjord has a truck. We can try that diner just off campus. If it’s too filled, I can take up by my family house. Less student there.”

Fjord had a feeling he was not getting a say in this. But he also felt a smirk playing on his lips. Maybe he did not mind. He agreed after some chiding from Darrow. He bought himself a few hours with the promises of going out and exchanging numbers. The boys were the first to depart, leaving Bryce in the room to help put things away. He handled his clothing while Bryce took out his books and smaller things. They made simple conversation while they played some old music on their phone to keep it from being silent.

A half hour in, Bryce got a call from their mom and excused themself. Fjord smirked and went back to putting away his clothes, trying to figure out what just happened. Was it really that easy to make friends in college? They seemed nice, maybe a bit too friendly. Of course, they could have been desperate to not be alone as well. Gunther seemed to just be quiet and happy to go along with whatever Darrow said if it meant less talking. Darrow seemed like that guy who was friendly with everyone. Bryce? He liked them. They seemed too genuine to just be using him to fill a void.

He was still musing when he heard feet enter the room. Fjord assumed it was Darrow or Bryce returning, so he did not look over. Not until he heard a silky voice that was very unlike the other three. Mostly, that accent. He stood up slowly, chuckling at the suggestiveness of the statement. His roommate. Fjord turned and was confronted with a few thoughts. One, he had somehow found a Strawberry Shortcake shirt that fit his body. A body that was just a bit shorter than Fjord’s. Two, he had buzzed hair and looked like he was a lost junior high student with his round features and pouty lips. Three? He was beautiful, a fact that was still a conflicting thought for Fjord to have about another man. And Fourth? This guy was not like anything he had ever seen before.

He was wearing a cartoon shirt that was clearly well-used, with baggy, black cargo shorts covered in studs and metal ringlets. He had old, beat-up converse on and leather cuffs, knitted sweatbands on his wrists, and a chain he assumed was attached to a wallet. He looked straight out of some old music video, back when those were made with serious intent.

The playful remark fell so normally from his lips, as did the smile when they shook hands. Fjord sized his roommate up before reaching out to take a bag from him, just as Bryce had. Molly smirked and handed it over, though the bed was only a few feet away. With the luggage deposited on the bed, the man looked over the bare room.

“You just get here,” Molly asked.

“Yeah, about an hour ago.”

“Parents piss off then,” he went to the door and looked toward the stairs. “My brother is on his way up.”

“No, it’s just me. Some of the guys from the dorm helped me get my stuff up here, though.”

“Already making friends? My mother would be jealous. I was asked just not to set the building on fire.”

“Hmm,” Fjord pondered. “Good thing it’s not wooden.”

Molly laughed again and called down the hall to someone. A moment later, another boy walked in carrying two more bags and followed by Gunther. Fjord tilted his head and Gunther rolled his eyes and shook his head. With the bag safe, he nodded and bowed back out. Molly’s brother coughed and looked around, then seemed shocked to see Fjord was standing there.

“Fuck, man. Didn’t see you. I’m Bo, this one’s brother. The big guy stopped me from eating shit on the stairs.”

“That’d be Gunther,” Fjord muttered. When the other two tilted their heads in tandem, he shrugged. “Met him earlier. We’re going out later when I get set up. If you want to join.”

Molly and Bo looked at each other. They both frowned a bit before shrugging and adding their affirmative answers. They began to put things away. Fjord finished his clothes and towels before making his bed. Molly and Bo bickered over how to set things up and spent more time sabotaging the other than actually getting work done. It was a pleasant bit of bickering that Bryce walked into. Not saying anything, they took the pile of Molly’s towels and put them away with Fjord’s. Molly looked at Fjord in pure confusion and Fjord laughed.

“This is Bryce. That’s Molly and Bo,” his hands waved vaguely at each person he named.

Bo grunted in response as he put the bed back together again. Molly stood up and smirked at Bryce, eyes taking them in for a moment. Fjord watched carefully, hoping he would not have to start hating his roommate for being a creep or a jerk. He was pleasantly surprised when all the other boy said was, “You manage to rock plaid shorts unironically. I think I’m in love.” Bryce laughed and winked in response before pulling their phone out.

“Darrow said he’ll be ready in twenty, is that cool?”

The three boys looked at each other and shrugged.

“I’ll be leaving soon,” Bo replied. “Got a long fucking drive ahead of me.”

“I invited Molly, if that’s fine.”

“Yeah, my roommate is coming, too. You’ll have to take your truck then. While I’d love to see you and Gunther squeeze into my backseat, I don’t think it’s a great idea.”

Bryce departed with a wave over their head and Bo, Fjord, and Molly went back to putting things away. As time wore down, Molly got noticeably quiet. He kept looking over at Bo, who was smirking and joking with Fjord. The boy looked ready to run back to the car and wait to be taken home. So, when Bo began his preamble about leaving, Fjord decided maybe he should step out and call his aunt to say he made it and was settled. He stepped into the hall, leaving the brothers alone.

 

It had been easy to ignore the fact that Bo was leaving when people kept coming in and out of the room. Fjord seemed kind and really cool. He laughed a lot. A barking, loud laugh that rumbled. It made it hard not to laugh as well, not just because his brother was funny. The kid, Bryce, seemed cool, too. Laid back and just… nice. Naturally nice. Everyone around made the energy easy to feed off of. But as the list to put away got smaller, Molly felt his skin feeling too tight and the walls closing in. He did not want his brother to leave. He was scared. And he was a little embarrassed that his roommate seemed to guess this, as he left the brothers to say goodbye. Molly chewed his lip and looked at the bed. He fussed with the sheets that were already tucked a bit until Bo yanked him away and into a hug.

“Hey, kid. You’ll be fine, you hear me?”

Molly nodded but said nothing.

“None of that. Go out with them. Have fun. College is supposed to be fun. Flirt with people. Make mistakes. Don’t just shut yourself up here, okay?”

Molly nodded again and stepped away from his brother. His eyes screamed how scared he was now. But Bo gave him a smile and held his shoulders.

“I’ll see you Thanksgiving. And we can FaceTime as often as you need. Okay?” Bo ran a hand over Molly’s shaved head. “Give ‘em Hell, kid.”

Molly coughed away a tear and offered a weak smile.

“Love you, punk ass,” He choked, and Bo laughed, but the tears strained his response.

“Love you too, shit bird. I’ll call you when I get back to Boston, okay? Call mom before you go out so she knows you’re okay.”

“I will.”

“Promise me, Molly.”

“I promise. Get going, it’s getting late.”

The brothers stood there, staring at each other for a moment. Then, Molly stepped forward again as Bo tugged his brother back for one more hug. It was a long one. Both men squeezed each other in the embrace and both exhaled shaky breaths. Bo walked out, only stopping to shake Fjord’s hand, and was gone. Molly turned away to hide the tears from his roommate. Fjord simply stepped forward and leaned against the doorframe quietly.  
“You don’t have to go tonight, if you don’t want to,” he offered quietly. “I could tell them you weren’t up to it or reschedule and I’ll order in pizza for us or something.”

Molly sniffled and looked over at the kid from Texas who stood there like a wall with arms crossed. Someone who looked so tough wore such a gentle and warm expression. And Molly believed him. That he’d ditch his new friends for his sad roommate. So, Molly shook his head.

“Nah, let’s go out. Should be fun, yeah?” His voice was weak, but it was enough to get a smirk and a huffed laugh from Fjord.

“Yeah. Let me get changed.”

Molly nodded and turned to fiddle with some of his books. Everything was out, but it was hardly organized. Molly lived in a controlled chaos. He knew where everything was, so anyone else looking was not his concern. If he wanted them to find it, he would tell them how to. Fjord had some form of organization. He had not looked it over, but he noticed the other boy rearranging some things earlier. He didn’t seem like a neat freak or anything, so that was good. And he was willing to have a lame night with someone he didn’t know. Bo was right. He could do this.

With Fjord changed, the pair headed outside. Both checked their wallets a few times to make sure they had their room key in there. Fjord now wore slim-legged jeans and work boots instead of his sandals and basketball shorts. He had been worried when he heard the country music playing, but what Bryce had playing seemed more like his family’s style. Maybe Fjord was one of those “I listen to everything” and means it types. Molly watched his roommate’s back(side) as they walked with his hands in his pockets. A few spots away from Fjord’s old truck stood Gunther and Bryce talking to a beautiful man with tan skin and dark brown hair and a girl shorter than Bryce’s car with skin darker than Fjord’s and her curly hair split into two puffy buns on the sides of her heads. They turned and smiled at them, the small girl shyly looking at the car door when she saw Fjord. If Molly ever saw his mood displayed more clearly, he never knew.

“Molly, Fjord,” Bryce gestured over the hood of the car lazily. “Bryce, Gunther, Darrow, and Tara. We ready?”

“Yeah, just make sure I’m behind you when we get to the main road, these streets are crap,” Fjord requested.

When Bryce gave a sarcastic salute, they both ducked into their respective driver’s seat. Molly climbed into the truck and shut the door. He was startled when Fjord tossed his phone onto his lap. He looked over at his roommate and tilted his head.

“Plug in the cord and pick some music,” Fjord replied as he turned the truck on.

Molly did so and began to scroll through the options. He remembered a few of the bands and songs from the radio. Nothing stood out for a bit until he smirked at an oldies playlist. His parents would die if they saw this as an oldie, but Molly pressed play and watched out of the corner of his eye. A slow and sweet as molasses grin spread on Fjord’s face as the guitar and drum started up. Fjord’s hands beat along with the drums and Molly leaned back, buckling up. With it clicking into place, they drove off with heads bouncing lightly to the beat. Fjord on the steering wheel drums and Molly on the air guitar as the first verse started, as did their beautiful friendship. They sang along:

_”Well tell me do you think it’s be alright  
If I could just crashed here tonight  
You see, I’m in no shape for driving  
And anyway I’ve got no place to go…”_


	2. Let me in

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Life is difficult being the odd-man out with no one to turn to. This far away from home, Fjord shuts out the people in his life as he struggles with the prejudice of his teammates. Only Molly has other plans.

“Molly, do you know what clothes are,” Fjord muttered as he dropped his bag onto the ground.

“Social construct meant to prevent me from existing in my natural state,” Molly retorted from his bed.

He was naked, as was normal for the guy. Fjord had learned quickly that Molly had little to no shame and was not easily embarrassed. There were a few orientation meet-ups where his roommate had quickly become center of attention. A mix of his natural, dramatic flair, and his ease with people made up for some of the more obnoxious and awkward habits he had in crowds. Fjord had stuck by the guy’s side the whole time, though at some points he felt more pinned than anything, with Bryce and Darrow snickering off to the side. Since moving in, they had all become thick as thieves. None of them had taken similar classes, but in the first two days of classes, they saw plenty of each other.

Gunther and Darrow were down the hall from Molly and himself. Tara and Bryce were a floor above them all, but the pair snuck onto their levels often enough. It seemed every time he was at Darrow’s, Bryce was there, as well. He would make a comment about them being so close so fast, but here he was talking to his roommate as his glory was all out on display.

“Plan on putting some clothes on and heading to the cafeteria with me, or just going to survive on sarcasm and air, tonight,” Fjord asked as he peeled his shirt off.

He did not walk everywhere, but in what time the boy did spend outside, he was immediately drenched in sweat. He was used to that but being stuck in a room with other bodies also radiating heat and the scent of humidity was just uncomfortable. He was now in the habit of showering twice a day—once after practice and once after his classes finished. He could not wait for the cooler months to roll through. Bryce promised they were more manageable. Whether that was so or not was yet to be seen. Fjord tossed his shirt into the hamper and yanked off his shorts. Molly smirked and wolf-whistled with wagging eyebrows.

“I guess I could join you,” he replied with a lazy smirk.

“You best mean to eat,” Fjord shot back with an eye roll.

Molly hummed as Fjord stepped into the bathroom and turned on the shower. He had no worry about Molly crossing a line. He was a joker, but hardly one to actively push limits. He did that on accident just fine, after all. Ever since their first meeting, it had been harmless teasing between them. While nothing had been said about it, Fjord had seen the way the other guy raked his eyes over him. He figured his roommate was not exactly straight, but he didn’t care. He was not about to do anything other than poke fun. And he would be a filthy liar if he said he had not caught himself giving the kid the same once-over. It was weird looking at another guy and liking what he saw. Then again, where he grew up, that was not exactly an option. It had been beaten into his skull to find a nice girl and settle down to raise a family. He just stuck to swimming and pushing at school instead. Out here, he found he was not afraid to let his eyes wander. And he had been startled to find they were not just looking over the brunette two doors away from Bryce’s room.

Fjord stepped into the shower and sighed happily as he felt the water hit his body. Then groaned as he realized he had to wake up early tomorrow for more practice. It was worth it, but he was not sure how he felt about the team. Surprising no one, he was the only black kid on the team. There were other people that were, as Darrow offered, of the brown variety, but eyes were on him immediately. One of the seniors had let slip a rather demeaning statement as he stood on the edge of the pool. One that did not get a reprimand from the coach or captain, but got Darrow shoving him into the pool aggressively. Fjord ignored it. It was easier than letting people see how it got to him. But he let his friend be angry for his sake. Something told him there was some disdain buried deep down he wanted to express, as well.

The toilet seat flipped up and Fjord chuckled.

“You’ve been in there 10 minutes, so either you are the quietest jacker of all time or you are thinking too much,” Molly commented from the other side of the curtain as he began to relieve himself.

“The latter, if you must know,” Fjord replied with a bit of shock to his voice. “Actual 10 minutes or are you exaggerating?”

There was a long pause. Long enough for Molly to finish, flush, and wash his hands. Before throwing open the curtain and staring at the confused Fjord with his eyes narrowed.

“Actual. You okay, man? Figured you would be quick, and we’d grab some food.”

Molly was now dressed in his normal strappy and baggy shorts and a pink tank top. Confusion plagued his normally jovial features, and Fjord now noted how fogged the bathroom was and how cool the water was starting to feel. He sighed and turned off the shower. There was no point in closing the curtain, as something told him Molly would just open it again. Time did that to him now and then. He would get to thinking and suddenly it was twenty minutes later, and he had accomplished nothing. Focus was always an issue for Fjord, especially when he was younger. He had learned to cope with it, though something told the guy that was not the best thing. Without much of an explanation to offer, Fjord just shrugged and stepped past his roommate and grabbed his towel. Molly turned and watched him with his eyes locked on Fjord’s face. There was an intensity to them that was a little off-putting. That flicker of danger he would not have expected from someone so light-hearted.

“I guess reality is just hitting,” Fjord deflected easily as he dried himself off and headed to his dresser.

“Yeah,” Molly replied.

The smaller boy flicked the lights in the bathroom off and walked to the front of their room to slip on shoes. Something told Fjord that Molly had not entirely believed that was the case, but neither were willing to mention it. Avoiding that conversation was easier, after all. They were not friends yet, not really, and Fjord did not want to unload his person issues on someone he was still trying to get a read on. Molly was cool, but plenty of people seemed cool at first and only proved to let him down in the end. With a long year ahead, he was not in the mood to find out earlier than needed.

With his shorts and a fresh shirt on, Fjord rounded the corner and Molly grabbed his wallet from the desk. They left with an awkwardly heavy silence between them.

 

Molly watched Fjord more for the next few days. He knew it was getting close to creeper level of watching, he was worried about his roommate. Not that he thought the guy unstable or incapable of handling whatever freshman stresses came with being an athlete. It was more the way his eyes averted from others Molly knew were on his team. Thursday, he went as far as to sit at the ass-end of nowhere to avoid conversations. By Saturday, Molly did what he did best, and put his ears to the ground. He waited for the rumblings to set up. But mostly, he charmed some information out of their shared acquaintances. His most reliable sources turned out not to be Darrow, but the two sweet ladies he was currently grabbing coffee with.

Rissa was in his English class and was one of the divers. She was a cute little thing with a mess of auburn hair and a spattering of freckles across her nose. She and Tara, Bryce’s roommate, were friends from high school and went to school a few miles away from the college. It was damn-near impossible to get one without the other, not that Molly minded. They were sweet girls. Tara was quiet, and Rissa was a bit mouthy but friendly. Molly was sipping on his chai latte. It had only taken ten minutes of basic chatter to get to the topic he was hoping for.

“How’s practice been, I haven’t gotten a chance to ask yet,” Tara asked as she put her head on her best friend’s shoulder.

“Okay, I guess. Coach is a dick,” Rissa rolled her eyes at Tara’s snuggling, but made no move to shrug her off.

“What exactly do you do in practice. Fjord doesn’t say shit about it. You’d swear he never goes,” Molly asked over his cup with a curious glint.

“Not surprised, poor guy’s been catching all kind of hell from the rest of the team,” Rissa muttered.

She cast a careful look to Tara, who sighed and shook her head. Rissa broke off a corner of her loaf with attitude and shoved it in her mouth before continuing.

“This may be a liberal city, Molls, but we’re still in the South.” Molly grimaced at that, but Rissa continued anyway. “White man can’t jump. Black man can’t swim.”

Tara huffed and sat up straight.

“Yeah, and you Mexicans are druggies,” Tara grumbled and drank some of her coffee.

Molly looked between the two friends and chewed his lip. Something he never really had to deal with. He was a standard white boy living in a heavy-Irish population. The most he got picked on for was having a bad taste in partners. He looked down, not quite sure what to say in this situation. Yeah, he started it, but Molly had no real grasp that this was where it was headed. Something he forgot about in the big, wide world outside of Boston. Watching crazy people on videos posted on twitter or reading blogsphere posts about it was one thing. His friends suffering from it as he sat blindly for a week was different.

“Is it the fucking coach saying this shit to you guys,” Molly finally asked.

“No, but she’s sure as hell not stopping it,” Rissa replied. “As good as saying shit in our opinion.”

“Don’t feel bad about not knowing,” Tara added, catching onto Molly’s game. He smirked and ducked his head. “Fjord probably didn’t think you’d give much of a damn if you did know.”

He huffed and rubbed his head. He shouldn’t be upset by that. It was fair. They had been roommates a week. He’d spent more time with people he grew to care less about in his life. He couldn’t really tell if it was a crush forming or something more platonic. He did care about the guy. Fjord was cool and funny. He never really spoke much of back home, but then Molly never asked. All he knew was no one came with to move Fjord in. And he had been adopted by two weird parents known as Bryce and Darrow since.

“Yeah,” he muttered. “At least now I know.”

“Would it make you feel better to talk about the show Theater has lines up this season, honey,” Tara asked sweetly.

Her big, brown eyes were sweeping over his face with warmth. She could tell Molly was uncomfortable about this. Hell, she hardly seemed surprised. He smiled weakly and nodded. Overthinking it now would not be helpful. He’d think about it later while he pretended to listen to his early morning lecture on Monday. This was easier. He, of course, figured the show would be some over-done production. Something they’d all roll their eyes at and try to find excitement for. So, he perked up when Tara said, “The Importance of Being Earnest.”

“Oooh, that’ll be fun,” Molly quipped. “Lots of sets and costumes for that.”

“And props. I’m sure we’ll have all kinds of things to do.”

Tara was also at the school for Theater as well, but as a minor. She was majoring in Psychology. Rissa was an Anthropology major. She had apparently seen a show one time when at home sick and became obsessed with the field. Molly had promised to check it out, but he had no time to watch a show from the early Sci-Fi channel before it changed it’s name to Syfy with 10 seasons and two spin-off shows. He’s watch it as he did Lost and House—through Wikipedia articles.

“Either of you thinking of auditioning,” Rissa asked as she crumpled her napkin up.

“As much as the world needs to see my beautiful face,” Molly smirked, “I’m a back of the house kind of dude. Love me some light rigging and props.”

“I’ll probably stick to the sound team. I have a lot of experience on the board they have already,” Tara agreed.

“You haven’t acted since Sophomore Year, Tara. I thought you liked being on stage,” Rissa tilted her head as they all rose and headed for the door.

“I did, but I like backstage better. Actors are cool, but techies are where it’s at.”

Molly snorted in full agreement.

 

His eyes were sliding in and out of focus. In hindsight, taking an early-morning class like this on a Monday was a mistake if he ever made one. Granted, he was sure that having Prince Charming as a roommate meant he was not about to get blitzed on a Sunday. It did not mean he had any desire to get up. He had no idea how Fjord did it. He was up at five every morning to run before swim practice. He was then able to make it to his class as if he had not gotten up before the sun. Molly had watched him that morning through a half-opened eye. He had stood awkwardly in the bathroom for longer than it actually took to brush his teeth before leaving. The normally straight back and shoulders slouched.

Rather than World History Before 1650, all Molly could think about was how the bright laughing, perfectly-dimpled Texan was sullen the last few days. It was the same look of dread after the reprise of Sunday Molly would look at for the next month. Every Saturday, the man made the choice to ask him, finally, what was going on. And every Monday, he scolded himself for backing out. But life went on in college. Molly was dragged out of bed by his roommate’s alarm, then him returning three hours later. He’d sit in class every week, wondering if he really was becoming the guy’s friend if he could also just ignore what was going on so easily. But unlike the month of Mondays and regret, this one did not end with Molly watching his roommate with quiet eyes and words on the tip of his tongue at night.

Instead, he dropped onto Fjord’s bed as the man tried to read his English novel. Molly rubbed his head, the hair now more than peach fuzz with him growing it out. His roommate didn’t look up from the book, but his eyebrows arched, showing he knew the guy was there. The Bostonian was patient as he watched the man’s hand and forearm with intent. The silence dragged out for a few minutes before Molly reached out and grabbed the book.

“You know, emo hasn’t been in fashion for like ten years, Fjord,” He quipped at his roommate’s glare.

“The heck are you talking about,” Fjord grumbled with a grab at his book.

Molly was the middle child, so moving the book from grasp was easy. He saw the way Fjord’s face twitched not even a second before he stretched out. Molly simply tucked a leg under his weight and marked the page with a finger. Before him, Fjord was stretched out with his back to the headboard and ankles crossed by Molly’s waist.

“You’ve been Suzie Raincloud for the past month,” Molly replied while leaning his weight onto the bed. “When I met you, I thought you shit sunshine and baby birds would be helping us clean the room.”

Fjord scoffed and looked at the wall.

“Now you look like someone stole your dog and kicked your cat as they knocked your ice cream on the ground,” he continued as though Fjord never interrupted him.

“Just not used to being out here,” Fjord deflected in a huff.

“Right, most people call home when that’s the fact, then cry like a bitch after. Like me.” Molly arched his eyebrows even if his roommate was looking at the wall. “You haven’t called home once, and you’re avoiding all your teammates like they have the plague. Even Darrow.”

His eyes snapped back to Molly’s face, but there was no anger. More of vulnerability. The honey eyes looked at Molly like he was the boy’s biggest fear. His jaw was set so tight, the muscles were bulging from his cheeks. His body was tight and tense. So. Molly decided to keep pushing.

“So, either you suddenly have no desire bond with your team, who you will spend way too much time traveling with, because you’re a loner” he pressed. “Or the team is not exactly what you were hoping for, and you don’t like being around them for other reasons.”

The pair stared at each other in silence as the dorm life outside the room carried on. Laughing. Yelling. A car alarm went off somewhere. Their neighbors were probably studying or porking. But right here, Fjord was looking like Molly had become the big bad wolf and was ready to eat him. Though, right now, Fjord was the big bad wolf. My, what big eyes he had.

“I take it the grapevine exists already,” Fjord finally muttered.

His eyes dropped to the space between Molly’s hip and his knees. His face had not untensed, but the defeat in his voice had filled out. The way his jaw worked from side to side made Molly realize he was a teeth-grinder. Well, that was disgusting. How had he survived braces and a retainer with that habit?

“And I’m a nosy bitch,” Molly offered as an olive branch.

“Yeah.” Fjord may have snorted, but a smirk was trying to peak out. “Not used to that being in benefit of me, I guess.”

“Yeah, well. Figure it’s my way of saying thanks for having those abs on display.”

For the first time in a month, Fjord laughed. Deep and rich, as he had at that diner with their friends. Molly felt his own smile growing and a laugh bubbling in his chest. They both let it die out for a moment, but when the boys made eye contact again, both threw their heads back laughing at the tension finally breaking in the room. A loud thud came as Fjord cracked his head on the wall, but it did nothing to stop them. A moment later, Molly was holding the bridge of his nose.

“No, but really, Fjord,” he breathed. “What’s going on with you.”

His spare hand shook Fjord’s leg supportively.

“They’re just…” His jaw clenched again, and his eyes darkened. “Assholes. Since day one, they’ve been a bit… condescending about me.”

“Well, you are a lazy piece of shit, who only wakes up at five in the morning,” Molly interrupted playfully.

“Fuck off,” Fjord spat with a laugh. “More like they thought I was put on the team as a joke or a sympathy case. You know. Black people don’t swim.”

“I’ll tell that to my cousins Shane and David next summer,” Molly replied easily, getting another laugh from Fjord.

“Coach did shit about it. No one did but Darrow and Rissa. Everyone else laughed. Or worse, did nothing, like it didn’t happen. So, when it wasn’t stopped? Yeah, people kept going.”

“Can’t you take it up with the director?” This time the laugh was hollow and sarcastic.

“A freshman crying racism in the South over getting a nickname won’t get me far, Molly.”

“Nick-”

“Blackfish.”

It said so simply, Molly almost missed what was said. And when he realized it, his gleeful eyes turned almost black in anger. Such a simple name that could sound like a compliment. Blackfish the documentary was about Killer Whales. Big, fast, and powerful. But also, half black, vicious, and wild. And a glaring finger pointed at the glaring issue in their mind. He apparently swore or said something, because Fjord looked at him with a startled expression and sputtered.

“I’m not apologizing,” Molly defended himself, though he was not sure what had come out of his mouth.

“Just, tell me how you really feel, there, Molls. Would hate for you to hold back.”

There was now a smirk on Fjord’s face. It did not get rid of the comments, jokes, and teasing that was shoved in his face. However, knowing someone had his back in this way and enough to offer to, “Skull-fuck the prejudice” out of his team? Well, it made him feel a little better. He let out a long exhale and felt his chest unclenching.

“Nah, fuck that, man. Why would I hold back? I’m from the north. We ain’t got time for that bullshit. People who jerk off to that shit can eat a dick.”

Fjord’s eyes were wide now, but he had a smirk. Truly, he had never met someone who had a mouth quite like Molly’s. Not that he had an issue with swearing, but that was… colorful. Stuff he was used to hearing over headsets or on YouTube videos. But not in person. He let out a chuckle.

“Thanks, Molls,” He said after a long moment.

But his friend waved him off, literally. That word shocked Fjord in his own mind. Friend. Even after a month of all-but brushing the guy off, here he was. Sitting on his bed and getting in his space just to help. The reason he didn’t call home is he knew that his family didn’t care. They’d point out that he made the choice to move there. He should have known what would be thrown his direction. And he had to now live with it. He did not need them making him feel worse about already feeling bad. He had planned on just suffering in his bad choices. Debate if he should stay in school after this year. If it was all worth it.

“Fucking right, it’s worth it, you idiot,” Molly snarled with an eyeroll.

Fjord blinked.

“I said that out loud?”

“You do that a lot, you know.”

“Do What.”

“Say shit without realizing it. And space out with that confused look on your face.”

Fjord rubbed the hair on the back of his neck shyly. He couldn’t blush, but he felt the way his face heated up at that. He chuckled and shook his head.

“Yeah,” Fjord agreed with a chuckle. “Habit of mine, I guess. Brain don’t always function the way it probably should.”

Molly hummed and offered his novel back. Fjord smiled and took it with a smile. He watched as the other boy got up from his bed and walked to the other one. His roommate was something else. Louder than speakers at full volume, yet softer than a kitten’s fur. How he got lucky and had him as someone to live with, he’d never know or question. It made the other parts of living with him a bit more excusable.

“Molly put a shirt on, no one wants to see your pasty stomach,” Fjord snorted and went back to reading.

Molly blew him a kiss before depositing himself on the other mattress.

“At least I have muscles though, right?” Molly chirped.

Fjord only chuckled and went back to his book.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This isn't my best chapter, but school work has been a pain in the butt. Love!


	3. Okay, I Feel Better Now

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fjord, Molly, Darrow, and Bryce take a quick trip to the beach and Fjord finds some comfort in not giving up.

_Woah, we’re half way there_  
_Woah, livin’ on a prayer_  
_Take my hand and we’ll make it I swear_  
_Woah livin’ on a prayer_

Molly and Fjord were both miles away from actually hitting the notes as the pair belted out the song with the windows down. It was one of the best parts of living in the south for Molly. The weather was still warm, even as they were getting into the later months. September had been as hot as ever, and with October a few days away, who was he to complain about still being in shorts and a light shirt. Both he and Fjord were growing out their hair, now, and had gotten long enough for the pair to take turns yanking each other out of the way with a quick pinch on the fingers. Molly’s hair grew a lot faster than Fjord’s, so his roommate had an unfair advantage over the situation. So, now, Molly just grabbed his ears instead. It got the same reaction.

Currently, they were in the backseat of Bryce’s car with Darrow up front. They were headed to one of the beaches in South Carolina right over the state border that was a bit cleaner than the ones by the campus. It also had a smaller chance of accidentally running into a professor in the off time. That had already happened twice to Gunther and Tara, who had to dance around their History professor in Walmart for an hour after he wanted to chat. It had only been a few days since Fjord opened up about the swim team, and he had been strategically ambushed by each of his friends. It had taken a few tries to get him to actually leave the dormitories for more than just the expected tasks. Finally, Bryce showed up and gave him no choice. Molly sat by, giggling, as the far smaller blond had grabbed Fjord’s computer chair and started wheeling him down the hall, calling for Molly to grab his stuff and follow.

That was last night. They had gone to a movie on campus. It was terrible, but the kind of terrible everyone enjoyed when viewed in a large audience. By the end of it, Fjord was back to his Disney Prince self. When Bryce offered to drive to the beach, he jumped at the chance. And Molly? He was just glad his buddy was doing better. He was not perfect, and the Bostonian felt there was a bit not being shared. It was possible everything was just Freshman Year stress, but Molly was investigating. By subtle and not at all bordering creepy amounts of watching. Concern was always laced with creepy when it came to new friends.

In his time observing, Molly had noticed a few things. Some where small, like the fact that he chewed his nails and on pencils and the such while nervous or thinking. Bigger habits like his zoning out, losing track of time, impressive forgetfulness for a man who could whip up a paper without looking at his notes, and what Molly likes to call the Goldfish. Some days were fine. He was a little on edge and only mildly distracting. Other days Molly wish he would teach a seminar on how to completely disrupt someone’s day and not mean to. The curious part was Fjord never seemed to realize he was doing it, and when Molly pointed it out he got very embarrassed. He had theories that were not at all written down in a notebook.

But today was a good day. He had been focused enough waking up. He had gone on his run with the team and did the light weight training. He and Molly ate at the cafeteria and Bryce picked them up. It was all going as planned. The smaller man looked over at his friend, who was grinning just enough for his too-perfect teeth to peak out and his dimples to crease. In a month, he had become pretty immune to Fjord’s charm and smiles, for better or worse. And it seemed to go both ways.

“Hey, Tea Party, why don’t you put some songs on here not older than that guy at the restaurant you were trying to hit on,” Bryce laughed as Bon Jovi ended.

Molly shot them a warning glare in the mirror. Not that he had an issue with the fact that he had absolutely been flirting with a man a healthy eight years older than the current party. It was more he was not sure how Fjord would handle it. Molly hated to judge a book by its cover, but Fjord was a big guy from, raised Catholic, from Texas. If he were a betting man (or someone actually wanted to take the bet), he’d say Fjord would not take too kindly to sharing a room with a guy who happens to enjoy sword fighting in a not fencing sense.

“Bryce are you hating on Bon Jovi,” Fjord came to Molly’s defense with a laugh. “They put out one of the best pop albums of all time.”

“One of. I’d argue plenty of others are way better and not originally put onto vinyl.”

“I think that song was new enough for cassettes.”

“Thank you for intentionally ignoring my point, Molly.”

Molly blew Bryce a kiss and sat back in his seat. The blond rolled their eyes and went back to the road as the song changed. Much like the rest of the driving playlist, it was another light rock song. Their hands gripped the wheel as the three boys began singing out of tune again. Despite their best efforts, a smirk appeared as they shook their head at the sheer idiocy of the whole situation. They knew they adored their friends, but that did not make this moment any less frustrating. Still, watching the way they all moved along to the music with such lack of shame was fun. And their shoulders swayed as well.

 

The beaches in South Carolina were so different than they were in Texas. Everything was flat and white sand. Along the beach were chunks of drift wood that the ocean brought. Some sat on the edge of the tide line. Others were dragged further back by people to use as a place to sit or set their things upon. The sand stretched on father than it did back home, though it could be a manicured reason. They were in a beach city. They had banked on the popularity of water in the southern heat for their income. Most of the town was geared toward tourists and rich yacht-owning families.

It by no means lessened the charm of the town.

The group walked through the sand and tall sea grass. There were less people at the beach now that summer was over, but Bryce told them all it was the most popular beach in the area. He could see why. The beach was lined with restaurants and hotels from end to end. The water was a clear blue, unlike the greenish tint from the beaches near the school. The group spread the towel out and set their cooler down.

“I can’t believe it’s already been a month,” Bryce mused as they tossed their flip flops to the side and buried their toes in the sand.

“Don’t get like that,” Darrow replied lightly. “You’re going to be that one who is always baffled by how fast time goes, ain’t you?”

The boy was stretched back with an arm slung lazily over his eyes. Bryce leaned forward and wrapped their arms around their knees and smirked. Their gaze flicked over him before looking out to the waves.

“Probably. We going to have issues if I get all sentimental on you,” they teased.

“Be the end of our friendship,” Darrow shot back, earning a snort in reply.

“That’s fine, I’ll upgrade for Fjord and Molly.”

“Don’t bring us into this lover’s quarrel,” Molly replied with his hands up in mock surrender. “I’m just here to objectify all of you.”

Bryce threw a handful of sand back at Molly, who laughed and shoved them in the shoulder. Fjord was watching a family at the end with a dog running along in the water. He remembered the rare few days like this toward the end of school where he got to spend time at the beach. It was never freeing, though. There was always that wonder of what was left to do back home. What he would have to do twice then to make up for time now. Here, he had his own schedule. And he knew for a fact that his work was done. The chance to just breathe and relax was… liberating.

“Oh, we’ve lost Fjord to the existential crisis internal monologue,” Molly announced as he leaned forward.

“Fuck off, Molly,” Fjord laughed and shook his head. “Just. It’s nice to relax like this. I’ve never been able to.”

Suddenly three sets of eyes were on him. Even Darrow was visibly peaking out from under his tanned arm. Fjord felt his body growing hot with embarrassment, and his gaze dropped to his lap. He had not meant to announce that, not really. He felt comfortable enough with them, but he was still worried that this would all fade in a few weeks’ time. Like the holiday break coming up in two months. Three weeks away from each other could stop the flow of comfort they all had. He could lose everything building with them to distance and time. The boy chewed his lip and looked up. All three were still waiting.

“I mean, we just didn’t have a lot of free time growing up. Big family and such,” he half deflected.

The silence stretched for a few seconds before Darrow broke it. he let his arm settle back over his eyes.

“I feel it, Fjord. I had all sorts of cousins running around everywhere. Every weekend it was over someone else’s house. Mamere always was watching one set of us at some time. She had her hands full with us.”

Fjord smirked and nodded. He knew that feeling. His grandparents were always chasing down the kids. Yelling at someone. They only really started to behave when the shoe came off.

“Where are you from, anyway,” Molly asked as he peeled off his shirt and tossed it to the side.

“Louisiana,” Darrow replied simply. “Damn, boy, you are pasty.”

“Fuck off, this is dark for me,” Molly replied defensively as he looked down at his freckled arms.

“Darrow here was raised in a fucking swamp. He spent all his time outdoors,” Bryce replied.

“Are we going to skip over how that is dark for him,” Darrow asked incredulously as he sat up. “He blends in with the sand!”

Molly squawked and tossed his sandal at Darrow, who ducked. The larger man lunged back and grabbed hold of Molly by the shoulders and dragged him to the ground with him. Fjord and Bryce shifted on the blanket while the two rolled around wrestling. After a few minutes, Molly was pinned beneath Darrow, who was back to reclining with his arm slung over his eyes.

“Fjord are you going to do anything about this,” Molly whined.

“First aggressive act was done by you, Molly. I can’t play favoritism in the face of justice.”

Darrow cackled, and Molly flipped him off.

 

The town was overpriced, but as far as food went, Fjord was not sure he could find better. They had some small snacks along the way, but Bryce promised them a really cool place out in the swamps. Molly, who was still sore over his defeat at the hands of Darrow sparked a short argument over how the man should feel out home. Bryce drowned the yelling out with a nineties girl pop band from Molly’s phone while Darrow threatened to feed him to the gators. Fjord just smirked as he watched the trees cast impressive shade over the street.

Minutes from the stretches of sand beach, and Bryce had led them back into the trees. Not quite the dirt road their last restaurant excursion was, but this was not far off. The road was tight and filled with potholes which they drove around easily. Finally, all no longer shooting death threats over the tanned interior of the outdated Honda, the music was at a reasonable level and the boys once more butchered the notes as Bryce grimaced. The trees gave way to a parking lot and a gray building that looked more like a warehouse than anything. But the sign out front called it a bar and grill. And like Bryce warned, it was busy. Fjord looked around, wondering how people even found this place, but realized in the distance was a full dock yard that stretched into the river inlet.

“My parents docked here once while when a hurricane ripped apart their other location,” Bryce explained as they threw the car in park and got out. “We’re normally up the way more. We found this place on accident.”

“You family has a boat,” Fjord asked. He had never been out to sea before, but always wanted to go.

“Yeah, two actually. But one is more like a skiff. We use it to go fishing and stuff in lakes or right off shore in calm weather. 

“So, your family has a vacation home in South Carolina and two boats,” Molly asked as he shut the door. “Are you guys in with the mafia or something?”

Bryce laughed and locked the car. They walked easily in step with the guys and shook their head. The ocean air had caused it to get wavy and frayed. They had never looked more at home than with the slightly dirty, sun-kissed skin and thick banned aviators on.

“My dad is a software engineer. Big time. And my mom is a biochemist. I’m an only kid, so they kid of have money to spare. I guess I was cheap to raise considering I only surfed and played soccer in freshman year of high school.”

“You are a walking poster child for Dream California,” Fjord teased as he held the door open for the group.

“Like you’re one to talk, Southern Charm. Holding doors open and the awe shucks smiles,” Darrow pointed out with a finger pressed into Fjord’s dimple as the aforementioned smile spread.

He could get used to this ease. He waved his hand at Darrow’s with a heatless glare and followed them in. The restaurant was buzzing with various conversations over the low thrum of sports games coming from the indoor bar toward the center. The host station looked more like a mock-bow of a boat and the ceiling was covered in thick netting, buoys, signs, and (comically) plush fish of various levels of realistic qualities. More importantly, it smelled amazing. Fjord frowned as his stomach growled and he looked over at Molly, who was playing with the netting.

He felt out f place in the restaurant. It was something out of any part of his world. His family rarely went out to eat, and when they did it was for a big occasion. His eyes flickered over to Darrow, who raised his brows. it seemed like he was having a similar train of thought. But they were both snapped from it as Bryce’s name was called and they made their way through the bustling main room to the dimly lit deck where another bar was set with two more games on and the music from a live band echoed under the conversations.

“Before you guys freak out, I’m paying so get whatever you want,” Bryce told them when the waitress left to get waters. The group stared up at them blankly with shared unease. “She already has my card, so bitch about it later, alright?”

“I will happily be your sugar baby,” Molly replied when the silent began to get awkward.

Bryce’s face wrinkled in confusion and maybe a bit of disgust at the term, but a laugh came out. They fell into a comfortable silence as they looked over their food and ordered. All the while Fjord watched them. A week ago, he had been willing to give this all up because he was uncomfortable with his teammates. Of course, he still was, but he was seeing that maybe Molly was right. There was a bit of a support structure out there. Something better than the comments and judgement he faced over and over.

 

When they got back to their room, Fjord peeled off his shirt and tossed it into the hamper. Molly had stepped into the bathroom, leaving the door open while he used the toilet. Fjord got his towel from the standing wardrobe they used to dry them and walked passed to turn on the shower. Molly jumped at the sudden company. Fjord just shot him a completely baffled look laced with humor.

“You did this to me last night,” Fjord reminded him with a huff.

“Yeah, I just figured you were still in your ‘I need three layers of clothing to be decent’ phase.”

“You walk around naked all the time,” Fjord pointed out again as he kicked off his shorts and Molly started to wash his hands.

“I did it to get a reaction out of you, it’s almost depressing you just carry on like normal,” Molly replied.

“Well, I apologize terribly for ruining your fun,” Fjord shot back and climbed into the shower, smirking. Molly walked out of the bathroom.

“Does this mean I can jack off while you’re home now,” He asked louder than needed before turning the lights off, leaving Fjord in the shower under scalding hot water.

“Fuck off Molly!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one is a bit shorter than usual, as I am also writing for NaNoWriMo and I have 2 research papers due Sunday. Wish me luck! Love you all! GOOD LUCK TO ANYONE ELSE DOING WRIMO!!!


	4. Un Fantasma Tra Noi

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Molly, Gunther, and Bryce get to enjoy how superstitious the other four of their merry band of idiots are. Bryce and Fjord get to suffer secondhand discomfort from two of their friends. And to set the balance in order, Fjord takes one for the team.
> 
> It's Halloween time on campus!

Four people pushed their way out of the student cafeteria into the crisp, October wind while three others trailed laughing. It was not an unusual thing for that site to great the campus, especially considering who it was laughing. In front were Tara, Rissa, Darrow, and Fjord. They all looked annoyed at the other three as they marched forward. The offenders? Gunther, Bryce, and Molly. It had started as a normal conversation over dinner before they headed back to their rooms to study or play video games. Really, it was what happened almost every night with them. However, this one was different. Not just because the line up was wrong, but recently Darrow had a hard time looking annoyed at Bryce and Molly. Right now, though, he was possibly the most annoyed out of the group.

Bryce had heard of the tours in town. They knew Halloween was a big deal in the South for people, as it was filled with ghosts and spooky stories. A few of them actually seemed like a lot of fun to do. They had brought it up as a way for them to hang out over the weekend. Walk around the city. Maybe sneak in some booze as one of the tours was a drinking tour. It was all suggested with the positive thought of having a good time. They even ran it by Gunther and Molly first. Molly was on board immediately, as he grew u in New England, which was also littered with ghost stories. Gunther was more difficult to convince. However, after a moment, even he gave in. they breached the topic over questionable macaroni and cheese. They expected maybe some laughs or disbelief in something so stupid. They got something else entirely.

“Solid nope.”

“Fuck that.”

“Aw, hell no.”

“You’re shitting me, right?”

It was a shock. But it was also funny to see two of the biggest guys they ever met act like they were genuinely scared. Rissa and Tara looked full-on offended as Bryce and Molly started laughing in shock. When Molly pushed, as he always did, the four of them got up annoyed and dumped their trays before storming out. The three remaining looked at each other before laughing and scrambling after their friends. There had to be a good reason for such a gross overreaction. And suffice it to say that Bryce was really interested in getting to the bottom of finally finding what scared Darrow. 

“Come on, dude,” Bryce called to them with a smirk fighting desperately to come out. “What’s the big deal? It’s just some stupid tour about ‘oh this is where some ghost may show up.’ And then we all stand there and know it won’t happen.”

“You guys have fun with that,” Rissa called over as she shoved her hands into her sweatshirt. “I don’t mess with spirits.”

“You can’t be serious,” Molly crowed. “Darrow, don’t tell me you’re with the brain trust on this, too.”

The Bostonian skipped ahead to draw next to the bulkier man. Molly wrapped his arm around Darrow’s waist and tugged him in It was generally a move Darrow hated, yet he kept his composure as the man allowed himself to be held close. Bryce snorted and looked up at Gunther. The man just closed his eyes and shook his head, so they picked up their pace and flanked the four on Fjord’s side. Darrow’s eyes were not so much studying Molly’s face as they were trained on Molly’s lips. A habit the man had gotten into, even though he insisted he was straight. A nice mouth was a nice mouth, perhaps.

“See, you people are all about this ghost stuff. I grew up with Voodoo and shamanism. We don’t play with dead people. See, the people here probably have some messed up curse on them from someone they forced to work for them or did wrong.” Darrow’s voice was thick with annoyance. “I’m not traipsing all over a cemetery _trying_ to contact the dead. You want to get possessed or some shit, you do that on your own time.”

“Darrow,” Molly chided gently as his hand splayed along the opposite side. “It’s a tourist trap. It’s some hokey thing thrown together to get people to waste money in hopes of seeing a ghost, when really the city wants to teach people about the history. But history is boring, so throw a few ghosts in the mix, and suddenly it’s a party.”

Bryce looked up at Fjord with a smirk, hoping he was going to be reasonable about it. Instead, they received a stern glare and a shake of the head. Bryce was taken aback a bit and looked between the people beside them. They were all serious about this.

“You are all way too superstitious,” Bryce laughed as they fell back in step with Gunther instead.

“We are just superstitious enough. What bothers me in native boy over there is not at all bothered,” Darrow shot back while looking over his shoulder. Bryce looked up at Gunther, who shrugged lazily.

“My family does not believe in ghosts just because I’m Native American,” Gunther rumbled. “Just means I know a lot of cool stories to tell.”

“You should know best it’s not good to mess around with ancient things,” Darrow snapped back.

“Darrow, not everyone grew up in backwoods Louisiana drinking bayou water. Relax, we were just trying to find something fun,” Gunther replied easily. His voice hardly fluctuated as he attempted to sooth his friend’s clearly ruffled feathers. “We promise next time we try to summon a demon lord, we will not invite you along.”

Bryce snorted and shook their head. Ahead of the pair, Molly’s fingers rubbed against Darrow’s ribs. Darrow, in turn, let the arm that was hanging limp at his side drift up Molly’s back outside of his vest. Bryce looked from Gunther to Fjord with their eyes wide. Were they all just going to ignore what was happening in front of them? Apparently, as both Fjord and Gunther just shook their heads and looked forward. They knew Gunther had no issues with it. That was an issue hammered out when they me, and he politely asked what Bryce went by. Fjord? They were sure he was fine with it, just too polite to ever mention something. They rolled their eyes as they made their way to the dormitories.

“How long do you think they’ll be mad at us,” Bryce asked Gunther as the pair watched the others walk in near silence. Near because silence was rare if Molly was present. Gunther just shrugged.

“If they were mad, they would not be walking slow enough for us to keep up,” he replied. “We laid off fast enough, I guess.”

When they started heading to their rooms, Bryce followed the boys rather than Tara to their floor. They promised to be down in a moment, as they were studying tonight. The walk was silent, and their gaze was locked on the three ahead of them rather than the tingling from the eyes on their neck beside them. There had been a strange air between them and Gunther. One that felt like magnets in water. Part of Bryce always resigned themself to the fact that they could only find romance with women, as most men were not comfortable with someone androgynous. Even issues came with bisexual men, and they sort of gave up on the possibility. But the way Gunther looked at them sometimes, it was almost worth hoping. Other times, a part of Bryce wondered if it was a look of having found someone who was a good friend and did not push for conversation. The feeling of being up in the air was why it was just easier to focus on the other fools. They were easier to read.

When they paused outside Gunther and Darrow’s room, Bryce laughed suddenly as Molly unceremoniously pushed the larger man into the room with ease. Fjord shook his head and tugged Molly back by the collar of his vest and toward their room down the hall. Bryce looked up at Gunther, who still had that even face. Bryce offered an awkward grin and a shrug.

“Gonna go bug them for a bit before I study,” Bryce explained lamely before escaping down the hall after Fjord and Molly. They dove into the room before the door clicked shut and looked up to find two confused faces. They just shrugged off their jacket and sat on the low dresser.

“Making sure you don’t kill Twilight Sparkle, here,” they explained in a flat tone. They looked over at Fjord for some help.

Finally, Fjord sighed and threw his jacket onto the bed.

“Molly, if I go to this stupid ghost tour will you finally sleep with Darrow, so we can stop watching you to stare at each other like a bad soap opera,” Fjord rumbled in an almost bored tone. But the sharp look in his eyes said he was not sure pushing right now was the best choice.

“I-what?” Molly spun from where he had stopped to grab Ramen from the top shelf of their sad pantry.

“We all know you want to,” Fjord added simply. Molly just looked between them, clearly thrown by this.

“Okay, first, Darrow is as straight as they get,” Molly replied. He was pointing at them with his index finger while the others were curled around the noodle package. “Second. Fjord. What the fuck?”

Fjord shrugged and dropped onto his bed.

“That’s all I get. Just a shrug?”

“Molly, were you expecting something out of me? Tell me so I can practice the actual reaction you wanted,” Fjord shot back. He moved over so Bryce could sit on the edge. “You’re about as subtle as a marching band.”

“Am not!”

“The first conversation we had revolved around sleeping together!”

Bryce choked and doubled over laughing. They felt Fjord’s hand lazily pat their back in comfort while Molly grumbled and started to fill Tupperware with water over the chunk of dried noodles. They took a deep breath in and sat up. Molly was overly focused on the microwave as he started to cook his meal. How he was still hungry after eating at the cafeteria was beyond Bryce. They looked over their shoulder at Fjord only to get a lazy shoulder shrug.

“Okay, straight or not, he has an obsession with your lips. Just offer to suck him off. Please. For all our sake. The sexual tension is giving me a rash.” Bryce leaned back as they spoke to drape over Fjord. 

“Yeah, do the same with Gunther, and maybe we will have a deal,” Molly grumbled as the microwave beeped. He flipped the noodles and poked the buttons a few more times and it started back up.

“Shouldn’t you cook that on a stove,” Bryce asked.

“Yes, well. Behold, my lack of stove.” Molly flourished his arms out to gesture to the whole of their dorm room. “Fine. I’ll make a pass at Darrow. And when he punches my amazingly perfect teeth in, you can bring me to the hospital.”

“Molly, you have buck teeth and a snaggle tooth,” Fjord pointed out with a laugh. His comment was met with a middle finger from the hand holding his fork. “Get to it so we can plan this stupid ghost tour and we can awaken some old curse and be tortured for the rest of our lives.”

“And here I wanted to just have a nice Saturday out with friends,” Bryce replied with a shake of their head. “You guys are overdramatic.”

 

“Huh,” was all Fjord heard in the dark of the room. He could see light on Molly’s face from the phone. They had gone to bed an hour ago, but that usually meant his roommate spent two more hours scrolling through social media.

“What,” Fjord asked. He was mildly curious. The only time Molly spoke when he was in scroll mode was when it was something he thought Fjord would like.

“So, I messaged Darrow earlier,” he said carefully. Fjord was aware. Bryce refused to leave until it was done.

“What did you say,” Fjord sighed and played along.

“Uh. The eggplant emoji. The smiley face where the tongue is sticking out. And then that weird wet emoji? Then a question mark.”

“Was it the question mark emoji?” Fjord was biting back a laugh.

“I… really hate how well you know me. Yes. It was.” Molly was laughing, too.

“Okay. And what was the response. A middle finger emoji?” When the response was a strangled whine, Fjord sat up. “Worse?”

“I uh. Normally, I love showing you the result of my embarrassing ideas. We both love how mortified I get, I know. But uh…”

“What is it.”

“Let’s just say I really need you to fall asleep, so we don’t break one of the few rules we have in this room.”

Fjord blinked at the ceiling for a bit. The silence fell over the room, and even Molly did not move. It lasted long enough for Molly’s phone to lock. The room was now in the near-darkness with the greenish glow from the microwave numbers and the light coming through the blinds outside. Finally, Fjord groaned and dragged his hand down his face. He sat up and swung his legs over the side of his bed and shuffled until he found his sandals. Molly craned his neck back to look at his roommate. Even in the dark, Fjord could feel the worry. Yeah, they really did know each other too well.

“I’ll go for a walk or something. Don’t use my bed, you freak,” Fjord told him in a deep gravel from sleep.

He grabbed his phone and wallet before throwing a sweatshirt over his bare chest and zipped it up. The door clicked without protest from Molly, though Fjord was hoping a bit more than just whatever Molly did to enjoy his alone time would happen. As his slow steps slugged over to Gunther and Darrow’s room. He knocked loud enough for them to know it was not someone trying to bug them.

“What,” Gunther’s voice barked from the other side.

“It’s Fjord. I’m…” He paused and sighed toward the ceiling. “Walking to the student shop for some things. Do you need anything?”

There was a long pause. Fjord swayed in his spot and put his head against the wall. As he waited, he read a panicked text from Molly, wondering if he had a problem with him or his attractions. He gave out a heavy sigh before texting back, “No. Stop freaking out an enjoy alone time.” Fjord headbutted the wall a few times before typing, “I’m Bi.” With that, he locked his phone and slipped it into his pocket.

“No, we’re good,” Darrow called. But the shuffling around in the room was obvious. Fjord huffed out a laugh.

“Alright. I’ll uh… see you tomorrow.” With that he headed toward the steps. 

He was not going to the store. Both men in that room knew it was closed. Instead, he sat outside on the steps and enjoyed the cold air. It was damp and heavy compared to the autumn air he was used to. While not as dry and northern Texas, it was still different. He liked it. The crispness that hung in the air rather than the humidity of summer. His eyes were looking to the sky but shuffling to the far side of the building caught his eye. He tried to focus in the dark. It took a moment, but he finally noticed the long figure of their RA creeping out of the shadows. Fjord felt a prickle down his spine and he swallowed. Clarence was not terrible. Exactly. Terrible would make it seem like Fjord had previously done anything to associate with the man. He was just creepy. It was obvious how some people, such as Kara, got selected. Clarence acted like it physically pained him to associate with the underclassmen. He also just hovered. So, Fjord shifted down a few steps in hopes of avoiding his RA’s eyeline. It seemed to work as the frail form walked by with someone who somehow dwarfed even Gunther and smelled worse than the swim team combined after dry training. Fjord still made a point not to move until the door clicked shut behind them.

Then he exhaled heavily and coughed at the lingering smell. He had never seen the guy before, but Fjord would not shed a tear if he never did again. His first instinct was to tell Molly that the RA was hanging out with a walking garbage dump when he remembered Molly was probably busy doing something a bit more entertaining. He’d save it and look back to the night sky. As he did, he could hear the soft music coming from a few rooms. The chorus of insects chirping from the woods that surrounded the campus. He enjoyed the peace he rarely got with his friends around. He loved them, as scary as it was to use that term. But he missed the silence he found here and there. The boy closed his eyes and leaned back against the brick and took a deep breath in, then exhaled slowly. He possibly dozed off before his phone chirped with Molly’s message saying the room was safe to return to. The smiley face at the end of the message made Fjord hopeful that this did not ruin the friend group he had built.

 

It did not. Though the sexual tension was gone, the playfulness between the two boys still existed. It was true. Darrow was straight. He even admitted to Molly he had no idea what it was about him that made Darrow want something new like that. And the Bostonian was not offended that it was probably a one-off thing. He had made a straight guy want him. As far as Molly’s already unbearable ego was concerned, that was a victory. Their moment had, it was now Fjord’s time to keep to his end of the deal. Molly genuinely felt bad when Saturday night rolled around, and his roommate seemed genuinely spooked at the idea of going into a few haunted locations. He did nothing outwardly obvious. It was just that he had nothing better to do than catalogue his best friend’s every emotion into a giant index to call upon. This face was a new spin on the nervous Fjord gave off when he had a big test or had to speak in front of people. He had built up a barrier from something in the jacket over his Texans sweatshirt and hat pulled low. Bryce was also bundled in a way that made Gunther and Molly, both of whom were from the north, laugh at.

They met at the little tour office with just over a dozen other people as the sun went down. It was a slightly wet night from the day before. Molly smiled gleefully as they stepped off, sneakers squeaking in the water. His hands were stuffed in the pockets of his light zip-up as he bounced along side Fjord, who looked like this was actual torture. The historic part of town was gorgeous with the old, colonial buildings towering overhead. The Spanish moss hanging like a chokehold from the trees that were now bare was just adding to the ambiance the poor guide was trying to give. It was not until they left the well-lit center for the more rural looking parts of the district that the tingles started to spread over Molly. He was not superstitious. Not to the extent Fjord seemed to be. That being said, it was difficult to be from Boston and not have had a few situations that made him wonder. He was not exactly a disbeliever. Maybe believer-adjacent when it came to ghosts. But there was definitely something heavy when the talk moved from just the stories of who was found where toward the history of the culture. The guide spoke of the long slavery years, how the people built their own communities and brought their old beliefs over. How it meshed with that of other cultures to form the unique Gullah lifestyle that was similar to Voodoo and Hoodoo in some ways.

Molly looked up at Fjord, who was trying his best to become a turtle and hide inside his scarf and jacket. For someone who towered over most of the people in the group, the man was looking to be the most scared. If he were a better man, Molly would feel bad. As it here, Molly was terrible and found it hilarious. They walked side-by-side, Molly with the bit of a skip to it and Fjord trudging along. In front of them, Bryce was tucked into themself and shivering in the air. Gunther looked down before shrugging off his own sweatshirt and draping it on Bryce’s shoulders. It was comically large, especially when they put it on properly and wrapped it tight. They were talking softly, most likely asking if he was cold every five seconds and being told no with a shake of the head.

“And you said watching me and Darrow was painful,” Molly scoffed. Fjord huffed out a laugh and shook his head.

They walked a few more blocked before Fjord stopped short and refused to budge. The rest of the group pushed by, excitedly following the tour. Molly looked up and noticed they arrived at the cemetery. His lips spread into a wicked grin as he turned to Fjord and nodded his head toward the gate. Fjord shook his head. Molly gestured again, and Fjord only shook his head more vigorously. Molly turned to face his friend full on and crossed his arms over his chest. There was a moral high ground about the size of a flat stone the smaller student wished to step on, and so he did.

“Fjord, you promised that if I messaged Darrow, you would do the tour. This is part of the tour.” Fjord shook his head some more. “I did my part, and no it is your turn.” More shaking no. “I will get Gunther and make him bridal carry you through this cemetery. Then post it online for all to enjoy.”

“I hate you,” Fjord whined.

“I know.”

“You’re literally the worst.”

“It’s an honor to hear this.”

“I am never talking to you again.”

“And your sweet baritone will be missed. Get moving, Cowboy.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone. Back with more chapters. Finally. I will be getting back into a more consistent flow again. I promise. Enjoy, and I will be back soon here or at Run For a Fall!

**Author's Note:**

> So here it is! This work will be on-going as I finish "Here's to Us" and start the part 2 of that year with Yasha and Beau.
> 
> Any of my lovelies who came over from the first Fic, HIIIIIII I LOVE YOU ALL. New comers? Welcome to the madness. I will try to post regularly, but these chapters seem to be bigger than I expected, and I am back in school. BUT I love these boys, so. I can't quit them.


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